Homeless situation is stable at Akron shelters

United Way of Summit officials don't see need for extra space at winter
By Bill Lilley Beacon Journal staff writer
Published on Friday, Jan 11, 2008

A meeting at the United Way of Summit County to address the Akron area's homeless situation left organizers believing the problem is not as dramatic as initially thought.

Questions about the size of the problem were raised Dec. 7 at a meeting of nearly 50 area social agency leaders.

''We came to realize that a lot of the people could be repeat numbers — they go from shelter to shelter to shelter when they are turned down for whatever reason,'' said Michael Gaffney, vice president of marketing for United Way of Summit County.

''That led to the conclusion that while there may be a slight increase in the number of people seeking shelter in the area,'' Gaffney said, ''it's not so extraordinary that we need to look to come up with a similar solution to Ocasek Garage Shelter 15 years ago.''

Gaffney said the six leaders of area shelters who attended Wednesday's smaller meeting (20 leaders of area social agencies) will put together information among themselves and then analyze the data to come up with ''true statistics about the homeless problem in the Akron area.''

''There was a lot of progress made,'' said Lois Foster, vice president of community investment for United Way of Summit County.

At that point, which is expected to be before the end of January, another meeting will be scheduled to include all of the leaders of area social agencies that want to be involved.

''One thing that we know is different now than 15 years ago is the number of families — women with children — seeking shelter has increased,'' Gaffney said. ''It's definitely not just single men who are in need and seeking shelter today.

''I think the consensus was that at this point, especially with the great weather we've had lately, there is enough shelter to serve most of the people who seek it.

''That could all change if there is an extreme change in the weather . . . Even the die-hards who normally don't want to come in look for shelter at that point,'' Gaffney said.

Gaffney said the recent record-high temperatures in Akron have been a blessing. But he recognizes that winter is far from over.

''The fact that we're looking into the problem now could help later this winter and definitely will help us get better prepared to handle this problem even better next winter,'' Gaffney said.

''Unfortunately, this problem simply won't go away.''

Bill Lilley can be reached at 330-996-3811 or blilley@thebeaconjournal.com.